


First Crush

by RebaK1tten



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: First Crush, Gen, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:12:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt from Blythechild on the LJ Comment Fic site "your first love reshapes your heart for the rest of your life."</p>
<p>NOTE:  contains references to off-screen child abuse and alcoholism.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Crush

Maybe it’s not technically his first love.  He’s 12 and way too young for real love, which is really just a chemical reaction in the brain, a mix of hormones, dopamine, serotonin and others, some of which he knows he’s too young to fully experience.

But there’s something so attractive, so compelling, about Jonathan.  Jonathan is 17 and a junior in high school, an underclassman to Spencer, who will be graduating in June.  Jonathan is on the basketball team and is a good, but not great player.  He’s much more passionate about his studies, but of course it’s important to have both academic and athletic accomplishments on his college applications.  Spencer doesn’t need to worry about that, of course.  He’s been accepted at four schools, and he chose CalTech at ten, since it’s the best option and relatively close to home. 

Spencer was asked if he could tutor Jonathan in calculus, and quickly agreed.  He’s not sure why Jonathan needs help, he’s obviously very smart, but it might be because he misses school every couple of weeks.  Spencer isn’t sure why the teachers seem to be okay with it and work to get him help to keep caught up; he’s seen teachers give up on other students who are out less often.

Sometimes when Jonathan comes back from a day or two out, he has some bruises turning yellow on his arms and Spencer’s seen bruises on his legs in basketball practice, too.  They could come from playing, but he doesn’t think so, especially after seeing him come in with a black eye, and hearing some of the things the other kids say about his Dad being a mean drunk.

Spencer’s the last one to judge someone based on their parents or their home.   For him, it’s constant work to try to keep his mother as healthy as possible, make sure she sees her doctors and takes her medicine and give the school counselors absolutely nothing to think about regarding his home life.  He makes sure he’s always presentable, with clean clothes and hair and a regular school lunch. 

He sees something similar in Jonathan, whose hair is always cut and neatly combed.  Jonathan looks older than his age, dressed a little too formal for a high school junior in white, button down shirts, but it’s his look and people have grown used to it.

He doesn’t seem at all uncomfortable or embarrassed being tutored by someone younger than he is.  Jonathan listens carefully to everything Spencer tells him, taking notes and nodding seriously, pushing his dark hair back into place when it’s disturbed from a particular fierce bout of nodding.  

Jonathan has a dry sense of humor, but he does have one.  The first time he laughed out loud at something Spencer said, he was worried that he was being laughed at.  Senior year has been better, but of course Spencer remembers the sting of having people laugh at him, not with him.  Jonathan seems to understand and appreciate his little attempts at humor, which makes him relax a little.  They both relax a little.

Jonathan will need to find a new tutor, if he needs one in his senior year, as Spencer will be away at college.   Spencer thinks about him occasionally, but college is different than high school and he does actually have to study a bit, and there’s barely time to think of anything other than studying and getting used to this new, huge place.  It’s hard being away from his mother and familiar home town; everything’s a bit of an adjustment, everything feels strange, but from what he’s read that’s normal for a freshman. 

For his first birthday away from home, Jonathan sends him a card and a biography of Carl Jung.  Spencer’s kept the book, with the card tucked safely inside.   They lose touch; after all, they didn’t have much in common to begin with, but Spencer remembers the quiet, dark-haired boy and wishes him well.


End file.
